Cadillac Might Have Solved A Self-Driving Car Problem WIth A Camera

When Tesla introduced Autopilot to its car, they made it pretty clear that Autopilot is not a self-driving feature. In fact to ensure that drivers kept their hands on the wheel, they made it so that the feature would not work unless drivers kept their hands on the wheel, otherwise they’d keep getting prompted.

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However it seems that Cadillac might have another solution to the problem and this one involves the use of a camera according to a report from WIRED. What the company has done is install a camera directly on the steering wheel itself which will track the gaze of the driver. This means that you can’t really “trick” the system into thinking you’re paying attention.

Should it detect that the driver is not paying attention, it will prompt them with audio alerts, a buzzing seat, flashing lights, and if all else fails, the car will eventually turn on its hazard lights and slow to a stop and summons OnStar under the assumption that there is something wrong which explains why you’re not paying attention.

Speaking about the feature, Bryan Reimer who is an MIT researcher who studies driving behavior said, “I think it’s the only reasonable way to do it. I believe strongly that driver state sensing, though [sic] video-based metrics, is really pivotal to ensuring the driver is capable of regaining control.”